A wig, three identities and crores gone: Anatomy of a ‘share market’ con

For investors, Rohan Bhushan Sheth was a successful share trader who hosted them at his luxury apartments in Sion and Matunga, showed them statements recording profits and promised monthly returns of up to 5 per cent. When the payments stopped, so did the calls.

His flats were locked and he had left Mumbai with two large suitcases. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW), which arrested Sheth, 56, in Valsad on July 3, says the man who had disappeared had also lived under two other identities, used a wig while meeting investors and had a luxury lifestyle that included three flats, high-end cars and imported watches.

The agency has now filed a chargesheet against Sheth, alleging that he ran an investment scheme using fabricated profit statements to make investors believe their money was being traded in the share market. The EOW has identified 42 investors from Maharashtra and Gujarat, including an NRI woman, who together invested around Rs 5 crore and alleged losses of about Rs 30.26 crore.

The case began with a complaint by Sanjay Hiralal Shah, 60, a retired Kandivali resident, who approached Mumbai police commissioner Deven Bharti in April and alleged that he and his family had been cheated of more than Rs 10.81 crore.

According to the complaint, Sheth came in contact with Shah’s son, a software engineer, in 2020 when he hired him to develop a mobile application for his share-trading business. The app was later named Investok. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Sheth allegedly began speaking to Shah over phone and WhatsApp, offering to teach him share trading.

He initially promised returns of about 1 per cent a month, later raising this to 3-5 per cent for large investments. Shah allegedly invested Rs 97.50 lakh after borrowing around Rs 1 crore from five acquaintances. He received about Rs 50.61 lakh as purported profit or returns, but claimed that around Rs 1.02 crore remained payable.

His wife allegedly invested Rs 1.13 crore and his son Rs 7.02 crore. The EOW alleges that Sheth used the same pitch with other investors. He invited them to his Sion and Matunga apartments, explained his investment strategy and showed them Excel sheets recording profits.

Investigators allege that the figures were manipulated. When investors sought withdrawals, Sheth allegedly delayed payments and, in some cases, paid purported profits to retain their confidence. The EOW says only around Rs 3.8 crore was returned to investors as interest or purported profits.

The properties where investors were hosted are now part of the investigation. Sheth allegedly lived in three-bedroom apartments at Beaumonte near Sion Circle and Bellissimo in Matunga, each estimated to cost around Rs 5 crore.

The EOW alleges that these and another property in Gujarat were bought over the past six years using proceeds of the alleged fraud. Four vehicles, including a BMW, Mercedes and Mahindra Thar, and around 14 imported watches, including Rolex, Hublot and IWC, were also seized.

As investigators dug into Sheth’s background, they found that he had allegedly used three identities. He was known as Jayesh Hasmukhbhai Shah during his childhood and college years. Police records, including an Aadhaar card, carried that name.

He later allegedly spent nearly a decade in Delhi as Rahul Atulbhai Parekh, under which identity he married and had children. After separating from his wife, he allegedly moved to Mumbai and began using the name Rohan Bhushan Sheth.

Police said documents supporting all three identities made it difficult to initially establish that they belonged to the same person. Investigators subsequently recovered documents, bank accounts and a demat account in Sheth’s name.

There was also a difference in his appearance. Sheth allegedly wore a high-quality wig while meeting investors to give himself a full head of hair. In private, he generally appeared bald. The detail became significant when police began looking for him in Gujarat.

The alleged fraud began unravelling in December 2025, when Sheth stopped making payments to investors. When Shah contacted him, Sheth allegedly said the money had been invested with another person, Jaideep Parekh, who was in the US.

In March, he allegedly said the money was returned and promised an RTGS transfer. It never came. By April, Sheth’s phones were switched off. Shah found the Beaumonte flat locked and was allegedly told by security staff that Sheth had left about a week earlier with two large suitcases.

He and other investors then checked his other residences before approaching the police. Investigators learnt that Sheth had fled to Gujarat carrying cash, gold and valuables and was moving between districts, using multiple SIM cards and staying in hotels.